England have been in search of a result and performance that would help point Thomas Tuchel's tenure toward Euro 2028 and not back at what might have been during the World Cup. On Saturday, in Stadion HNK Rijeka overlooking the Adriatic Sea, they found it. Of course, nothing will truly erase the pain of that semifinal defeat to Argentina until they find themselves within touching distance of a first trophy since 1996, but a 7-0 hammering of Croatia in the UEFA Nations League is a stunning way to start."This is the only way to move forward even if you still feel pain," Tuchel said afterward. "You have to play with the pain if you still feel the disappointment, you have to play with it, that is the nature of sport."It was not an easy camp in the beginning after this long tournament for multiple reasons. But straight away first training session on Tuesday, the buildup to the Spain game, we had an excellent performance against Spain but not the result [losing 3-2], the reaction to the result in Czechia [winning 2-0] and now the buildup [here]."The focus in the meetings, the translation of the meetings onto the pitch and to bring it within these circumstances in Croatia, to win with this dominant performance, that is the way to move on."I've said many times, we will always have a scar, we will always feel pain and disappointment. That is the way it is, but this is the way to move forward. We adjusted some stuff after some things after the World Cup and we played in the same manner in all three matches. We are getting better at it, and the team buys into it, this is the most important."Was it England's best display under Tuchel? "Yeah I think so," he replied. "It was a complete performance over 90 minutes."Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka all found the net in a devastating opening 45 minutes that ended 4-0 and stands alongside the finest England performances in recent memory. It wouldn't be England these days without a defensive error -- Elliot Anderson lost the ball on the edge of his own box to Mateo Kovacic, who rounded goalkeeper Jordan Pickford but somehow steered the ball wide with the goal at his mercy. But that was a minor glitch on an otherwise faultless night combining high press, front-foot aggression and dynamic forward play which utterly overwhelmed Croatia. Mitigation comes in how abject Croatia were. Luka Modric is a modern-day legend of the game, but he looked every day of his 41 years here. And the whole occasion had a bizarre feel. Crowd trouble in Croatia's Nations League tie with France last March meant UEFA deemed this match was to be played behind closed doors. However, regulations dictate that accompanied children could still attend and around 6,000 from football academies across Croatia alongside schools from the local Rijeka area were allowed in. Following dialogue between the FA and UEFA, 100 England fans were also admitted leading to an official attendance, quite ridiculously, of 6,342 in a 8,279-capacity arena. The soundtrack was like a playground at lunchtime. Around a dozen onlookers gathered on the roof of the closest house with around half as many huddled together on a balcony just below. Inside, there was still a dig at their visitors' recent pain as one group of children unfurled a banner at kickoff which read: "It's Not Coming Home."Yet what started as high jinks probably ended up feeling like detention. They watched their national team on the receiving end of a brutal lesson in high pressing, dynamic attacking and ruthless finishing. There was no letup after the interval. Another stunning team goal climaxed with Anderson crossing for Kane to finish from close range, taking his international tally to 89 goals from 124 games, to make it 5-0.
Some of England's football was sublime. Anderson was partne...
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing